Mango Bread

I don’t think there’s a fruit in the world that can compare, even distantly, with the luscious mango.

I am not talking about the sorry, hard, pale-yellow approximation available here in supermarkets. What I mean is the radiantly golden, deliciously juicy mango that makes an appearance in Indian markets at the beginning of summer.

There really is nothing like an Indian mango, especially the variety called the Alphonso. The bright orange flesh of that fruit, its deeply velvety texture, its sinfully decadent richness of taste is to be eaten to be believed.

This summer, when we traveled to India despite all our worries about the sweltering May heat, the fact that we could gorge on the Alphonso until we could almost eat no more– almost, but not quite–was enough to make the nasty weather bearable.

Coming to today’s recipe, I love making fruit (or veggie) breads, but last Saturday I didn’t have any bananas, carrots or pumpkin pulp on hand. As they say, necessity is the mother of invention, and when I saw in the pantry a tin of mango pulp that I’d picked up on my last visit to the Indian store, I had a delicious thought.

Now let me make this clear: mango pulp, even the variety that claims to be made from Alphonso, is not all that great. It is too sweet with added sugar and always tastes a little tinny. Still, it comes in handy for mango lassis and shakes, and being a bit of a mango freak, I usually keep one or two tins around.

To make a long story short, I decided to use the mango pulp to make a mango bread. I worked from my pumpkin bread recipe, modifying it as I went along. Since the pulp was much thinner than the canned pumpkin puree one would use for a pumpkin bread, and I wanted to use more of it to get an intense mango flavor, I used a little more flour, cut down on the sugar and water, and doubled the amount of pulp. The resulting bread was surprisingly delicious, although let me be the first to admit that fresh mango puree would make it much, much better (try it, you lucky souls who live in India). The bright orange of the baked bread was also gorgeous. The two cups of mango puree gave the bread just the right mango-ey punch.

To go with my favorite fruit, I used cardamom, my favorite spice. These two are wonderful flavors both on their own and married to each other.

So here it is, a very special recipe for a very special bread. This one goes to Sweet Vegan!, the vegan food event I am hosting through Oct. 31.

In a bowl, mix together until well blended the canola oil, sugar, flaxmeal, and mango,

Add the flour to the wet mixture along with the almonds, if using, and mix well.

Pour the batter into a standard 9X5 inch greased loaf pan and bake in a 350-degree oven around 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean, or with a few crumbs stuck to it. Please note that because no two ovens are the same, even at the same temperature, the bread might take more or less time to bake in your oven. Whatever you do, don't skip the toothpick check!

Wow.. Vaishali.. !! This looks sinfully yummy.. Mango is my favorite fruit..and agree with everything you said about it The Indian grocery here sold the “Alphonso” mangoes this summer (imported all the way from India..) Ill remember to try with the fresh ones next year.. For now, the Mango pulp works great too..I am definitely making this ..sooner.. Cant wait for so long.. to have the Mango bread.. Thanks for sharing ..

Hi Vaishali.. I want to try this tonight.. I dont think I have whole wheat pastry flour.. can I use all purpose flour instead ? Is there a reason why the pastry flour might be better ?? Also, wondered about sugar.. I prefer less sweeter breads.. do you think I can reduce the sugar to 1/2 cup ? Will it be too bland ? Please suggest.. !Thanks !

Thanks for your answers Vaishali..I have never used flax before.. and this is probably a silly question Is the ground flax seed powder same as the Flaxseed meal sold at grocery stores ?? I happenned to get the later one.. I am wondering if I should pick up the seeds too..

ne.It turned out well but the mango flavor wasn’t as intense as I wanted it to be(I used tinned mango pulp from Indian grocery)..do you think I could add maybe some mango juice/dried mango bits or something to make it better?Also do you think using brown sugar would compromise anything ?I served mine with mango ice cream and it paired well.

GKB, it is likely that the mango pulp you used was less flavorful– it’s the unpredictable nature of the mango pulp one buys in tins at Indian stores. Just last week a can I opened was sour and insipid, whereas at other times I get a full-bodied, rich flavor.Two cups of mango pulp is already quite a bit of fluid in the bread, and you would have to add more flour to the recipe which might end up compromising the entire bread. Perhaps you might try adding some mango flavor? I am not sure what the options are, but perhaps you can get a mango essence at the Indian store? Just a thought.

Sainila, Glad you liked it. To answer your question, this is not a traditional cake recipe– it’s a mango bread recipe. Vegan cakes can be just as fluffy as versions with egg, but you’d need different leavening and rising agents than those used in this bread.

I’ve been thinking about making mango bread (with canned mango pulp) for some time. I was also going to convert a vegan pumpkin bread recipe, but you had already done all the work for me. I changed a few things – I used whole wheat flour (not whole wheat pastry), 1 teaspoon freshly ground green cardamom and only 50 g (1/4 c) sugar. The result was absolutely fantastic, almost cake like – yummy! The recipe will also work when made into muffins or a round cake.

I absolutely loved this recipe. I cannot imagine this bread without whole wheat flour, it gives it such a great texture and adds a bit of nutty flavour to it. Thank you so much for sharing it Vaishali:)

Hi Vaishali,Greetings from India! Been waiting all of last year to make this bread with fresh Mango Puree and Intend to do so this year. Just some questions to help ease my way forward… really grateful if you can answer them.. a) Can one use regular Whole Wheat Atta, instead of whole wheat pastry flour..? cant get it in India you see! b) Also, how does one use Flax meal..? do you need to dissolve it in water or just use it along with the dry ingredients..? can one also use a few Mango chunks in the recipe ( sorry.. just wondering if you may have tried variations and have something more to report… many thanks in advance for your help

Hi Deepali, you can use regular whole-wheat atta, but I’d recommend using 1 cup of refined allpurpose flour and 1 cup of whole-wheat atta for the best results. A bread that uses whole-wheat flour only would be rather dense.The flaxmeal has to beaten into the ingredients dry, exactly as the recipe says. No need to mix it with water first. And yes, you could add some mango chunks– they’d be really nice in there!